Saturday, October 10, 2009

Isn’t it ironic that Alfred Nobel, a man who spent his life designing and working with explosive devices should be responsible for creating the Nobel Peace Prize?

Isn’t it even more ironic that President of the United States Barack Obama — who once claimed to be ready to invade Pakistan while still on the campaign trail, is currently in control of the war in Afghanistan with escalation inevitable at this point in time and is the author of a new missile system, which the Russians today said raises more questions than it answers — should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

As Tim Marshall on Sky News suggested this morning, Obama appears to have been awarded the prize for not being George Bush.

Certainly after 8 months in office he has done nothing to warrant the award as yet.

This is not to say that he will not become deserving at a later point in time but that is irrelevant right now.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean prime minister, on the other hand has given up a presidency in order to avoid violence continuing against his constituents.

A man who has suffered beatings, torture and imprisonment in order to bring peace to his people.

A man who agreed to share power with his enemies in order to restore hope and prosperity to Zimbabwe.

If ever there was a man deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize then Tsvangirai is it. Deserving because of what he has achieved rather than what he might bring about as is the case with Obama.